Social Security Charter Review: research findings - summary

Additional information

There was overall support for the addition of ‘useful information’ relevant to the Charter.

The core client group suggested a glossary of terms. They agreed a list of terms and phrases used in the Charter where it would be helpful to see further information to help explain what they mean in practice. For example, ‘Health and Social Care Practitioner’ and ‘Social Security Independent Advocacy Service’.

There was a suggestion to include visual information about key processes such as the consultation, re-determination and appeals processes.

Clients who took part in the workshops, survey, and interviews said there should be better links between organisations who provide support.

The core client group agreed a list of helpful links which they thought would be useful to include in the Charter. For example, links to benefit checkers and how to get in touch with Social Security Scotland.

Some said the Charter could have hyperlinks to online information. Some said this would be difficult for paper copies of the Charter.

Some said the information could be in a separate document. Participants said it was important that any additional information should be kept up to date.